Konoha Academy
by tsuki akina
Summary: [AU] When Sakura Haruno is left at Konoha Academy, her acquaintances and encounters don't fit just the usual boarding school experience. How will the year progress? PG for language, no pairings besides the usual crushes
1. Arrival

Disclaimer: If I owned Naruto, I would be very creative and rich indeed. Thus...I do not own it.

A/N: Yo! My first fanfic on here, gasp. See, I really don't like A/U stories, so I decided to write one! 8D So, erm, bear with me through this...read and review...and, yeah, all that.

-kina-chan

Chapter 1 - Arrival

Sakura Haruno looked out the car window and scowled. It seemed they had been driving forever, though in reality it had only been just over an hour. Her large green eyes, usually bright with life and energy, glazed over as they took in the nearby signs: The Shinobi Grill, The Kunai Corner. The rest of her body was limp and slumped against the car door. Sakura sighed deeply.

This sound did not escape unnoticed by her mother, sitting in the car's passenger seat. "Sakura, stop that," said Mrs. Haruno sharply, turning to face her daughter. "I understand this is not your ideal way to spend these months, but there really is no other choice."

Sakura did not acknowledge this quotation but merely sighed an even deep sigh.

"I know you would have liked to come with us," continued Mrs. Haruno, "but your father and I would never let you spend that much time out of school." Then, seeing Sakura close her eyes and slump farther over, she groused, "It's like talking to a wall" and turned back to the front.

In truth, Sakura didn't care all that much about accompanying her parents on their six-month trip to Europe. Sure, it would have been great to see the sights and say she had been there, but no matter how you looked at it, six months was an awfully long time to spend with virtually no human contact. No, Sakura was more concerned about her parents' "brilliant" idea of sending her to a completely new school—a _boarding_ school, no less—in the middle of nowhere for these six months. Sakura couldn't understand how anyone could possibly think six months shoved into a new environment could be beneficial for a person. But, as her mother said, she had no other choice but to endure this punishment. Sakura sighed for the third time.

"Here we are," said her father a few moments later. He pulled the car into a long, hedged driveway leading to a tall brick building. In front of the building was a cluster of sculptures in the shape of a toad, a slug and a snake. Even Sakura had to admit the structure was impressive, with its many stories and wings.

"Well, shall we go in?" Mrs. Haruno said cheerfully. Within minutes they were all holding various pieces of luggage and standing in front of a pair of heavy wooden doors. Mr. and Mrs. Haruno strode through these doors, with Sakura reluctantly following behind.

The doors led into a large, airy entranceway. Seated at a desk and typing busily was a petite woman with short, dark hair.

"Excuse me?" said Mr. Haruno.

The woman looked up. "Oh, hello!" she exclaimed warmly. "I'm Shizune, the secretary. You must be the Harunos. I'll call the principal in." But before she could push the button on the intercom, a crash and a loud curse were heard from the direction of a nearby doorway.

"Damn it, Shizune, when will Jiraiya learn his empty sake bottles do _not_ go on the staffroom floor?" loudly complained a blonde woman, coming into the entranceway. "Or that the staff room's not where he should pass out anyway, why can't he do that in his own damn—" she stopped short as she noticed the Haruno family standing by the desk. "Oh, shit," she groaned, "was _today_ the day?"

"I told you yesterday, Tsunade," scolded Shizune exasperatedly.

The woman shrugged. "No matter." Then she turned to the Harunos. "Hi, I'm Tsunade, the principal of Konoha Academy."

"I'm Mr. Haruno," said Sakura's father, grabbing Tsunade's hand and shaking it heartily. "This is my wife and our daughter, Sakura."

"That's nice," replied Tsunade vaguely, discreetly removing her hand from his grip.

"It's _so_ kind of you to take Sakura in on such short notice, and in the middle of the school year, too," gushed Mrs. Haruno.

"That's nice," said Tsunade again. Then she looked at her watch. "Not to rush, but I have a meeting in twenty minutes, and I'd like to talk to Sakura beforehand."

"I understand," said Mr. Haruno. He turned and held out his arms to Sakura. Before she knew it, she was the center of a parent sandwich, with phrases as condiments.

"We'll miss you so much—"

"I'll write every week—"

"We'll be thinking of you—"

"Be sure to behave—"

"We love you."

Sakura recited the right answers. "I'll miss you. Have a good time. Love you, too." Then after a couple of rounds of squeezes and kisses, she was watching her parents walk back out the door and down the walk to their car.

"Think of it as an adventure!" were Mrs. Haruno's last words before the wooden door closed and they were gone from Sakura's sight for six months. She turned around to see Tsunade standing by the desk with a slight smirk on her face. Then, seeing the girl's quizzical expression, the principal snapped to attention.

"Shizune, get Genma and Raidou down here to carry the luggage to her room—and see that it's the right room, too," Tsunade said briskly. "Haruno—come with me." Sakura followed her through the doorway and down a hallway to an office, where Tsunade gestured her to a chair by a desk.

"Okay," said Tsunade, sitting behind the desk and folding her hands. "There are a couple of things to discuss before you start your…'adventure'." She smirked again.

Sakura nodded, noticing for the first time there was a small pig sleeping in a basket in the corner.

"You have four classes a day," Tsunade began. "Every day you alternate with another four classes, so you have eight classes in all. Got that?"

Sakura nodded again.

"Oh, and here's your schedule before I forget," said Tsunade, handing over a slightly crumpled piece of paper with "NEW GIRL" scrawled across the top.

"Going off campus is only allowed on weekends or with a teacher's permission," continued Tsunade. "Meals are always taken in the cafeterias—no exceptions. And lastly, this may be a co-ed school, but these are NOT co-ed dorms. That means absolutely no—" She was cut off by the sound of a crash coming from down the hallway. Seconds later the door to the office flew open and a tall, silver-haired man strode in.

"Damn Jiraiya," he muttered, then straightened. "Tsunade, can't you talk to those boys? No matter how many times I meet with them, they keep on causing trouble and won't listen to me…." Then he noticed Sakura. "Hello, and who might you be?" he said with a smile. Or at least Sakura assumed it was a smile, as the lower half of his face was entirely covered by a dark blue mask.

"She's the new student, Kakashi, as you'd know if you listened at the meetings instead of reading that damned book," said Tsunade acidly from behind her desk. "As for those boys, you're the guidance counselour! Guide them!"

At that, Kakashi (who had coloured slightly at mention of his book), bowed to Tsunade. "Welcome to Konoha Academy," he said to Sakura, and turned to depart.

Tsunade shook her head after he had left the room. "I don't know why I ever hired that man," she muttered to herself. She pushed a button on her intercom. "Shizune, send her in," she said into it. Then she handed a small booklet to Sakura. "The rest of the rules are in there, if there's really anything you need to know. And you've got the uniform—that's to be worn at all times, unless you're going off-campus."

Then the office door opened and a friendly-looking girl with brown hair twisted into two buns walked in.

"Tenten," said Tsunade, "this is the new girl…Sakura. Show her to her room. It's 407, her luggage has already been taken up…or at least it should have been."

"Okay," said Tenten. She turned to Sakura with a smile. "Come with me."

Sakura found her voice. "Okay. Thank you," she said to Tsunade with a bow. The blonde woman just waved her off, looking impatient.

"Your room's on the fourth floor," said Tenten to Sakura s they walked up a flight of stairs. "Just like mine. Where did you come from, anyway?"

"My parents went on a trip," said Sakura vaguely, not feeling like expanding on that.

"I see. Well, you'll like it here," said Tenten. They continued on up the stairs in silence, until they reached a long hallway.

"That's my room," commented Tenten as they passed room 415. "I share with Hinata; she's sort of shy, but she's really nice."

"Who will I be sharing a room with?" asked Sakura curiously as they neared 407.

Tenten thought a moment. "I guess you'll be sharing with Ino, she's the only one on this floor without a roommate."

'Ino?' thought Sakura wildly. 'I never heard of anyone else with that name…but it couldn't possibly be the same one…could it?'

Finally they reached a door with a brass nameplate reading 407 attached to it. Tenten knocked on the door. "Ino, your new roommate is here," she called.

"I'm coming, I'm coming!" a voice said back. Sakura wiped her clammy hands on her skirt.

Then the door opened, and she nearly fell over.


	2. Introductions

**A/N: Chapter 2, w00t! Just for the record, I've decided that, even though I am FOR the Japanese manga and anime (definitely), I've decided to keep things like the English anime...so, no name suffixes, but still calling people sensei, and putting names in Western order. I would have it otherwise, but this is an AU. It's supposed to be...non...yeah. XD Anyway, enjoy!**

Chapter 2

"Are you okay, Sakura?" Tenten questioned. "You almost fell over."

"I'm okay," Sakura replied with a quick nod. She was too busy staring into the equally horrified face of the tall, blue-eyed blonde who had opened the door: none other than her childhood-friend-turned-rival-for-life, Ino Yamanaka.

"Well, Sakura, I see you haven't changed much," sneered Ino when she had regained her composure. "Still as clumsy as ever. You haven't even grown, except for that forehead of yours—I think it's gotten even bigger, if that's even possible."

"Glad to see you haven't changed either, Ino," snapped Sakura. "Unless your brain got even smaller."

"Well—well at least it's not as overgrown and disfigured as your forehead!" Ino retorted.

"There's no WAY it could be as big as how obnoxious you are, Ino…PIG!" Sakura shot back, her eyes blazing.

"Billboard brow!"

"Ino-pig!"

Tenten was watching this with a slightly alarmed look on her face. "You…you two know each other, then?" she inquired uncertainly.

"_Unfortunately_," Sakura replied, her eyes still shooting daggers at Ino.

"We were friends when we were younger, if you could even call us that," Ino added with a piercing glare in Sakura's direction.

"Won't that be a problem if you two share a room?" remarked Tenten.

"Ha!" came Ino's reply. "There is NO WAY I am sharing a space with that…that mutant!" With that she flung her door shut. Sakura and Tenten could hear her angrily stomping around the room.

"Well," said Tenten, blinking, "I suppose she'll warm up to it….eventually. Want to see the rest of the school?"

"Sure," said Sakura, still silently fuming. Tenten led them back down the hall and down the stairs back to the entrance hall on the first floor.

"The classrooms are all on this floor and the second," said Tenten, leading Sakura down another hallway. "Music room is there on your right…no one in there right now, though…home-ec lab's right there beside it…oh, and there's the guidance counselour's office," Tenten said with a smirk.

"What about it?" Sakura asked, not understanding what the smirk was for.

Tenten snorted. "Well, I wouldn't exactly call _him_ a guidance counselour. Just see for yourself." She gestured Sakura over to the keyhole in the office's door. Through it Sakura could see the silver-haired man with the mask—Kakashi, Tsunade had called him—sitting behind a desk. He seemed to be completely engrossed in the bright orange book he was holding close to his face.

"And I really don't feel like this relationship is working out," the voice of a teenaged girl was saying. "It feels like he never listens to me, like I'm just not important to him. I feel absolutely worthless."

"I see," Kakashi murmured, his voice muffled by both mask and book.

"Sometimes I wake up and wonder if life is even worth living," the girl's voice continued. "I think, 'What's the point of being on this earth? Should I just end it all now?'"

"I see," Kakashi said again, turning a page.

"Sensei?" the voice said more urgently. "Are you listening to me?"

"Well, there is a great book I could lend to you," said Kakashi, his eyes not leaving the page. "I assure you, it can help with any relationship problems…well, really any problems…."

"Is that enough for you?" Tenten said, smirking again. Sakura pulled away from the keyhole and nodded, slightly perturbed and what she had just beheld.

"Let's go," said Tenten, and they set out down the hall once more. Tenten led them to a large set of double doors, from which behind Sakura could hear yelling and the sound of basketballs hitting the floor.

"They're having basketball practice," Tenten informed her. "Come on, let's go in and watch."

They pushed open the doors to find themselves in a large, brightly-lit gymnasium. Tenten and Sakura walked over to the set of bleachers against one of the walls and settled themselves down. On the gym floor, a group of teenage boys were doing lay-up drills.

"That's Kiba," Tenten said, pointing out a boy with shaggy hair. "That blonde guy is Naruto…then Kankuro's there on the left. Oh, and there's Neji." She sighed as she pointed out a tall boy with long dark hair and mysterious white eyes. "Isn't he hot? Too bad he doesn't think about anything but sports…."

"Yeah," Sakura agreed automatically, but someone else had caught her eye. A boy about her height, with messy black hair and deep, dark eyes. Unlike the other boys, who were laughing and joking as they did their lay-ups, he did them silently and precisely, concentrating on getting the ball through the hoop every single time. The expression on his face, though not exactly moody, certainly couldn't be described as cheerful—brooding, perhaps. To Sakura, he was the epitome of the word "hot". However, before she could ask Tenten who this boy was, a piercing whistle rang out and a man jogged out into center court.

"All right!" he yelled, grinning widely. He could have possibly been classified as the strangest man Sakura had ever seen. From his black bowl cut and thick black eyebrows to his green spandex shorts and matching shirt, Sakura could bring to mind no person more…disturbing.

"Great work today, boys!" the man said, still grinning. "Keep up that marvelous work and the trophy will be held in our hands! So remember: tomorrow morning at 5 we meet for ten youthful laps around the park filled with spring!"

"Aw, Sensei, do we have to?" groaned the blonde boy, Naruto, his disgust apparently on his face.

At lightning speed another boy ran and planted himself firmly in front of Naruto. Sakura gaped as she realized this boy had the same bowl-cut, thick eyebrows and even the same spandex suit as the coach. "How dare you question Gai-sensei!" he said fiercely, his cheeks flushed indignantly. "His words and his actions are what brng this team together! If one of us questions his authority, we shall surely perish!"

Naruto stuffed his hands into the pockets of his shorts, looking uncomfortable. "I didn't mean anything by it, Lee," he muttered.

Lee opened his mouth to say something more, but the coach cut him off. "It is fine, Lee!" he said. "I know that even if the world abandons me, you will still be on my side!"

Lee's eyes opened wide. "Sensei!"

"Lee!" With that Lee ran over to the coach with outstretched arms to embrace him. The rest of the team watched this exchange with a mixture of horror and wonder.

Sakura poked Tenten. "Who IS that" she asked, eyes wide.

Tenten giggled. "That's Rock Lee," she answered. "As you can see, he sort of…well, he basically idolizes Gai-sensei, there."

"And who's—" Sakura started to question, but she was cut off by the whistle again. This time, all the boys threw their basketballs into a cart and came over to the bleachers to collect their clothes to change into.

"Hey, Tenten! Who's your friend!" yelled Naruto, running over to where the girls were sitting.

"I'm Sakura Haruno," Sakura told him with a tentative smile.

He smiled back. "Cool! I'm Naruto Uzumaki, the star player of the team!" AT that, the boy Tenten had pointed out as Kiba came and pushed him to the ground as some of the other guys laughed and clapped appreciatively.

"I'm Kiba Inuzuka, and this is Akamaru," Kiba said, picking up a small white dog Sakura had not seen at the sidelines. The other team members followed suit and introduced themselves, though Sakura was sure most of the names had gone in one ear and out the other. She looked around for the black-haired boy but noted with disappointment that he must have already left to change. She did, however, spot a thin boy with dark hair sitting in the corner, frantically sketching in a book.

Tenten's eyes followed Sakura's gaze. "That's Sai," she told her. "He doesn't say much, just draws in that stupid sketchbook. You don't even see him that often…except at boy's basketball practice," Tenten finished, the corners of her mouth turning upward. Then she looked at the clock on the gym wall. "Aw, crap! I said I would meet Hinata five minutes ago!"

"Where should I go?" Sakura asked rather lamely, not quite sure what she was supposed to do in this time.

"Dinner's in about an hour," Tenten replied. "I guess you should probably unpack?"

"Okay," Sakura agreed, not feeling any real enthusiasm in the idea of having to face Ino again. She waved to Tenten and somehow found her way back to room 407.

Ino was lying on one of the beds when Sakura entered the room. "Okay," she said listlessly. "It doesn't look like we have any choice, we have to share a room. So I wrote down a few things for you to remember." She thrust a piece of looseleaf paper at Sakura, who took it and started to read.

RULES FOR PEOPLE SHARING INO'S ROOM

1. Lights go out when Ino says.

2. Room gets cleaned when Ino says.

3. Window gets opened/closed when Ino says.

4. Quiet time is when Ino says.

5. Radio on when Ino says.

6. Alarm goes off when Ino says.

7. MOST IMPORTANTLY: No non-members of S.A.S.U.K.E.L.I.S.P. permitted in club headquarters (a.k.a. Ino's room) at meeting times.

"What's Sasuke Lisp?" Sakura inquired, trying to tone down the anger that had flared up inside her at reading these "rules".

Ino scowled. "It's not 'Sasuke Lisp', it's S.A.S.U.K.E.L.I.S.P.! Anyway, I guess I can tell you. It's the Society for the Affections of Sasuke Uchiha and the Knowledge of any and Every Love Interest of Said Person."

Sakura blinked. "Who's Sasuke Uchiha?" Ino sighed loudly and marched over to the closet doors, flinging them open. Sakura gasped in spite of herself. Staring back at her were the poster-sized eyes of the black-haired boy, pulling her in like two black holes—and the rest of his face.

"So you do know him," Ino said with a wry smile. Before Sakura could respond, however, the door to the room flew open and a brigade of about ten girls burst in.

"We're here for the meeting, Ino!" one said.

Ino turned to Sakura. "Out."

"But I have to un—" Sakura began to protest, but the blonde was already pushing her out the door. Once out in the hallway, she sighed. "Still a bitch," she muttered then, and headed back down the stairs. In the entranceway, however, she was nearly bowled over by a green blur. She wasn't hurt, but the blur didn't seem to be so lucky. It had become a green and black shape crumpled into a ball on the floor.

"Hey, are you okay?" Sakura said, blinking, but the shape didn't seem to hear her. It was too busy rolling on the floor, mumbling, "I can't believe I did that…what would Gai-sensei do if he found out…I'm so stupid!" With shock she realized it was Rock Lee, the boy who was the clone of the basketball coach.

Suddenly Lee stood up straight. "I am incredibly sorry!" he said, tears running down his face miserably. "I did not mean to hurt you! Are you all right? Are you injured?"

"I'm…fine," Sakura answered, not sure what to make of this person. Maybe there was something wrong with him? He did look rather…unstable. "It's okay."

"No, it is not okay!" Lee said, shaking his head. "This will never do, I cannot just run around and hurt people!" Then his large eyes lit up. "I know! From now on I will be responsible for you! I will protect you until the day I die!"

"That, um, won't be necessary," Sakura assured him, but he would hear none of it.

"No, I insist! In fact…" he blushed. "Will you go out with me?"

"Umm…no…" Sakura replied, too taken aback to say anything else. His face fell.

"Oh, well!" he said, his face setting. "It doesn't matter, I will still keep you safe as long as I live!"

"Okay," said Sakura, trying her best not to smile. "Umm…I'll see you later." Leaving Lee behind, she set off to find Tenten, going as fast as her legs would take her without sprinting.

**A/N: Revieeeeeeeeeew? -Best mournful look-**


	3. Lost, and food

**A/N: God, chapter 3 took me so LONG to write, and I don't know why. Urgh. I was despairing about it being so short, and it turned out to be longer than any of the others. It figures.**

Chapter 3

Finding Tenten turned out to be a rather stupid idea, Sakura admitted about five minutes later. In the confusion of the incident that had just taken place and the fury that still coursed through her, she had forgotten that she still hardly knew her way around the school. Furthermore, she had no idea where Tenten had gone to meet Hinata. Angry at Ino, the world and mostly herself, Sakura wandered the first floor blindly.

_These are all classrooms_, she noted to herself after a few minutes. _Why would Tenten be here? I'm so lost._ Caught up in these thoughts, the shock she received when she walked right into someone was immense. She looked up and with a start saw the boy she'd seen sketching at the basketball practice. What was his name again?

"I'm so sorry!" she apologized profusely, mentally kicking herself. What a great way to start off. "I'm new, and I got lost, and I…well, I wasn't looking where I was going."

"I see," the boy said. He had a most curious look on his face, Sakura noticed—sort of calm and expressionless. When he spoke, it wasn't exactly cheerfully, but neither was it quite anything else. In his hand he carried the sketchbook and a black pen.

"I'm looking for Tenten, see, and I can't find her, so I…got lost," she finished rather lamely.

"Ah," said the boy, nodding.

"I…guess I'd better go find her," Sakura said awkwardly. This really wasn't how she'd like to have anyone's first impression of her, but it was too late now. "I'm Sakura Haruno," she added as an afterthought.

The boy smiled a smile most often seen in school pictures—that is, his mouth moved, but his eyes still remained the same calm gaze. "My name is Sai."

"Uh, see you later," Sakura said to him and rushed away, face burning with embarrassment. That made twice today she had been involved in collisions. Was this her destiny here at Konoha Academy?

"Hey! Hey, Sakura!" A loud voice broke through Sakura's thoughts. She looked up to see Tenten sprinting down the hallway with another girl behind her, frantically trying to keep up.

"What are you doing here?" was Tenten's greeting when she reached Sakura. "I thought you were going to unpack."

"Ino had other plans," Sakura replied with a grim smile.

"That Ino." Tenten shook her head. Then she smiled. "Oh, yeah! This is Hinata Hyuuga."

"Nice to meet you," said the other girl softly with a shy smile. She had short black hair and, Sakura noticed, the same milky eyes as the "hot" guy Tenten had pointed out earlier.

"Are you related to—"

"—Neji?" Tenten finished for her. "Yeah, they're cousins. It's the eyes, right."

Sakura nodded. "They're very…unusual," she said, hoping not to offend Hinata.

"It's a mutated gene. We all carry it," Hinata explained quietly, a slight flush appearing on her cheeks.

"I'm always trying to get her to hook me up with him," Tenten added with a devilish grin, at which Hinata flushed deeper, mumbling something incoherent.

"It's okay, Hinata, I know that it wouldn't make a difference anyway," said Tenten with a sigh. She turned to Sakura. "It's almost dinner, want to head to the caf?"

As they went back down the hallway they came across Sai, who was sitting on the ground, idly drawing in his sketchbook. As they neared him he stopped what he was doing and watched them pass by.

"Hey, Sai," Tenten said as the three girls walked past, and Hinata uttered her own quiet greeting. Sakura gave a nod of acknowledgement and hurried on. She could feel his gaze still resting on them as they headed on their way, and she didn't like it. It was a relief when they rounded a corner.

"So, why were you guys back there?" Sakura asked Tenten and Hinata as they left the classrooms behind.

"Oh, Hinata needed to get some work from Asuma-sensei so I came along too," Tenten explained. Hinata blushed. Sakura could already tell that the girl was very shy and did not press further.

Tenten steered them through another hallway to a large, open room. Tables were everywhere, and a few people were scattered around, sitting on benches and idly chatting to each other. Large posters were tacked onto the walls at intervals; the one nearest to Sakura read "EAT HEALTHY OR YOU'LL DIE". Tenten saw where Sakura was looking and snorted.

"Their idea of scaring us into shape. Come on, let's get a seat." Hinata and Sakura followed her to a table by the far wall, where they all took a seat on benches.

Suddenly a loud buzzer rang, causing Sakura to jump. "That's the dinner bell," Tenten said knowledgeably. "Everyone should be coming in now." Sure enough, almost as soon as the words left her mouth about fifty people stampeded into the cafeteria, with more pouring in behind them. Sakura saw a tall girl with four blonde ponytails scope the room, spot Tenten and wave. Then she came over to their table, a girl with long black hair close behind her.

"Wonder what crap they're giving us tonight, eh, Tenten?" the blonde said with a grimace. Then she noticed Sakura sitting beside Hinata. "Hey, who's this? A new prisoner?"

"I'm Sakura Haruno," Sakura spoke up, slightly intimidated by the sight of these newcomers. Suddenly, surrounded by so many people, she was very aware of the fact that she was the only human in the room out of uniform.

"Cool. I'm Temari, and this is Kin," the girl said, sliding in next to Tenten. Kin said nothing, just sat down with a vague half-smile.

Then a loud voice yelled out. "Hey! Guys! Come get your food!" There was a loud commotion as all 673 students in the cafeteria (who had just finished sitting down) stood up and charged over to where the food was being served. Sakura followed them, feeling a bit dazed.

"What does it look like today, Kiba?" Tenten asked the buy standing next to them in line.

"Akamaru and I'll check," the boy said with a grin, poking the small white dog perched on his head. Sakura recognized him as the boy who had pushed Naruto over at the basketball practice.

Kiba and Akamaru sniffed the air for a few seconds while Tenten, Sakura and a few other people watched, most of them expectantly, Sakura curiously. Finally Kiba stopped and looked at them. "Garlic, definitely, and it smells like beef," he said. Akamaru yapped. "Oh, yeah—and cheese. Looks like it's Garburcheese day!" Everyone around him groaned, with the exception of Sakura.

"What's Garburcheese?" she asked, deciding not to wonder about how Kiba could know this by smell and how he could (apparently) understand Akamaru.

"You'll see," Kiba said knowingly as the others snickered.

Finally—or perhaps all too soon—after grabbing a tray from a huge, towering stack, Sakura was standing in front of the serving counter. Behind it were two grumpy-looking men wearing hairnets, aprons and rubber gloves.

"Umm, a small serving, please," said Sakura timidly to one of them, holding out her tray.

"Look, kid, here you take what you get," the man replied. The plastic fork he was gripping between his teeth waved up and down as he talked. "HI, MY NAME IS GENMA!" the nametag around his neck proclaimed cheerfully.

"Yep," said the other man with somewhat of a laugh. Happy face stickers bordered the exuberant "HI, MY NAME IS RAIDOU!" printed on his nametag. "Now here's your Garburcheese," Raidou said, loading two dark brown lumps onto a paper plate and shoving it in her direction.

"But—"

"Just take the frickin' food!"

Slightly taken aback, Sakura accepted the plate and, trying to keep the disgust from her face, set it on her tray. She took a carton of milk from the large heap sitting on a table. Then she went over to the table where Tenten, Hinata, Temari and Kin were already sitting.

"Yeah, I forgot to say, there's pretty much only one choice here," Tenten said apologetically.

"It's okay," Sakura replied. She gingerly poked one of the odd hard shapes with the end of her finger. "Um, what are these…?"

"Garburcheese," Temari answered promptly. "That's a hamburger with grilled cheese made on garlic bread."

"Genma and Raidou are always…experimenting," Tenten told Sakura.

"Just be glad it's not Spaghettiloaf day!" Temari laughed.

"You get used to it," Hinata assured Sakura quietly.

"…thanks," Sakura said with a grimace. She picked up a Garburcheese, studied it a moment, then set it down again. Lying to herself it was too hot to possibly try to eat, she looked around the cafeteria. In the center was a table with all the boys from the basketball team sitting around it, talking loudly and laughing. Nearby were Ino and all the girls from S.A.S.U.K.E.L.I.S.P., talking seriously. Sakura could see Sai sitting at a table by himself, ignoring his food as he frantically drew something in his book. She also noticed another boy sitting at a corner table on his own. But something seemed weird about it.

She poked Tenten and pointed. "Who's that?"

Tenten looked. "That's Shino."

"Why is his table black?"

"It's not. Those are bugs."

With shock Sakura realized that indeed the table was swarming with black bugs of all shapes and sizes. "What are they _doing_?" she asked in horror.

"He feeds them, I guess," Temari answered with a shrug.

"…oh," Sakura replied, disconcerted. She scanned the cafeteria once more, the Garburcheese lying forgotten on her plate. Her eyes rested again on the table of the basketball team. Naruto, Kiba, Kankurou…someone was missing.

"Where's Sasuke?" she blurted out.

"Sasuke?" Tenten repeated.

"Sasuke _Uchiha_?" Temari added.

Tenten began to giggle. "Oh, God, Sakura, don't tell me you're on of them!"

"One of who?" Sakura asked, perplexed.

"Like Ino and her precious Sasuke Lisp—oh, excuse me, I mean S.A.S.U.K.E.L.I.S.P.," Temari said, imitating Ino in a rather nasal way.

"I don't get it, what's wrong with Sasuke?" Sakura said, feeling even more confused and, in spite of herself, a bit hurt.

Temari and Tenten snorted. "Nothing, just that practically every girl in school is in love with him—"

"—his sexy hair—"

"—his _gorgeous_ eyes—"

"—but no, he won't have any of them—"

"—which makes him all the more, you know, wanted—"

Sakura half-listened to this exchange, caught between wanting to speak out indignantly and wishing they would just forget the whole thing. Instead she stared blankly at the poster on the wall by their table. "IF YOU EAT LOTS OF SUGAR YOUR TEETH WILL TURN TO BOOGERS" the letters shouted out. Underneath them was a rather gruesome picture of a mouth being attacked by little green gremlins.

Four or five minutes later, Tenten and Temari finished their session of bashing Sasuke Uchiha, all girls who liked him and virtually anything and everything associated with him. Hinata was picking at her Garburcheese and listening to the conversation with a somewhat worried expression; Kin just ate her food with a stony face.

"Aren't you going to eat your food?" Tenten questioned Sakura.

Sakura looked down at her two cold, untouched Garburcheese. "I'm not hungry," she said indistinctly. It was true to some extent; a number of things in the last while had caused her to lose her appetite.

"Oh, and to answer your question, Sakura," Temari said, "Sasuke doesn't live at the school. He lives with his brother." She took a swig of her milk.

"Oh," Sakura replied, now ready to drop the subject of Sasuke. She took one more peek at the Garburcheese, which was now soaking in its own grease. Well, now she definitely had no appetite. Abruptly she stood up.

"Where are you going?" Hinata asked, clearly confused. Tenten and Temari looked at Sakura inquiringly. Kin stared off into space.

"Oh, well, since I'm not hungry I figured I might as well, you know, go unpack and all that stuff, so, um, I'll see you guys later," Sakura answered rather quickly. Before they could respond she grabbed her tray, dumped the paper plate (now completely brown with grime) into a garbage can, added her tray to the now-diminutive stack and rushed out of the cafeteria. In a few minutes she was back in her room.

"I guess I might as well unpack now that I'm here," she said aloud, her voice echoing in the empty space left by Ino's cronies. She shivered. In the dark, rainy January evening, the small room was left dim and cold.

She unpacked systematically, placing socks and underwear and pyjamas in the small bureau by her bed. With distaste she realized Ino had claimed some of the drawers as her own when she'd had the room to herself. Sakura promptly took the items that occupied these drawers and dumped them in a pile on Ino's pillow. She hung up her stiff, unworn uniform in the closet, unconsciously making sure they were not blocking the poster of Sasuke's face. Then she found a small framed photo of her and her parents.

_Do I really want to remember every day why I'm stuck here?_ she thought, studying the photo. It had been taken at their house about a month ago, during winter holidays. "Whatever," she replied to herself, and stuck the photo on the bureau.

The rest of her belongings didn't take long to put away. A hair brush. A couple of books. The few clothes she could wear off-campus. Unpacking finished, Sakura flopped onto her bed and kicked at a couple of candy wrappers, remainders from Ino's club meeting.

_I suppose I'll brush my teeth,_ Sakura thought, realizing she really didn't feel like seeing anyone. So she took her toothbrush and toothpaste from home and set out for the washroom at the end of the hall. She brushed her teeth, washed her face and inspected the showers, which were large and, thankfully, quite private.

Sakura headed back down the hallway, deciding it wouldn't hurt to actually go to bed really early for once. She didn't know what else she could do; besides, some alone time might do her good. She had just decided this when she unexpectedly spotted an odd black shape slumped against the corridor wall and gave a yelp. As she got closer she realized who it was.

"Sai! What are you doing here?" she half-gasped, half-yelled, heart still beating quickly.

He looked up at her, hand still moving the pen on the paper of the sketchbook. "I'm sitting against the wall," he answered her.

"I know, but—why?" Sakura asked, flustered at finding a guy—_this_ guy, for that matter—in the girls' hallway.

Sai stood up without saying anything and turned to walk to the stairs. Then he stopped and pivoted. "You have pink hair," he remarked, and walked away, sketchbook tucked under his arm.

Sakura stared after him, not quite sure what to think. Shaking her head, she went back to her room.

**Hehe, looking forward to writing chapter 4...classes...TEACHERS...muahaha. XD Review, s'il vous plait. (That means please, I'm randomly lapsing into French...)**


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